Liverpool (7) Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Lutyens Crypt, architecture, chapels Liverpool RC Cathedral: View from the entrance foyer to the Sanctuary and High Altar. Liverpool RC Cathedral: Left - statue of St Martin de Porres Liverpool RC Cathedral: Right - The sculpture by Stephen Foster in the Children's Chapel Liverpool RC Cathedral: Liverpool RC Cathedral: Some of the blue-cyan coloured stained glass windows. Liverpool RC Cathedral: The beautifully carved and 'lightly' painted wooden panels and stone altar in St Joseph's Chapel. Liverpool RC Cathedral: St Joseph's Chapel Liverpool RC Cathedral: St Joseph's Chapel Liverpool RC Cathedral: St Joseph's Chapel Above/below - Liverpool RC Cathedral: ? Chapel Liverpool RC Cathedral: Some of the smaller stained glass windows. Liverpool RC Cathedral: Chapel of Reconciliation ? Liverpool RC Cathedral: The stained glass window panels of the lantern - effectively the 'dome' of the cathedral. Liverpool RC Cathedral: The lantern The Lutyens Crypt Liverpool RC Cathedral - Lutyens Crypt: The Crypt is effectively the crypt of the Sir Edwin Lutyens (a much renowned architect) cathedral that was never built in the 1930s.

The Crypt was built between 1933 and 1958 and is a massive vaulted brick construction. Above is a view of the Crypt Hall. Liverpool RC Cathedral - Lutyens Crypt: It is one of the biggest crypts in the world. Liverpool RC Cathedral - Lutyens Crypt: There are four large spaces and each can hold between 300 and 700 people! Liverpool RC Cathedral - Lutyens Crypt: Liverpool RC Cathedral - Lutyens Crypt: One of the halls is used as a concert room. Liverpool RC Cathedral - Lutyens Crypt: Wonderful radial brickwork of the concert room. Liverpool RC Cathedral - Lutyens Crypt: The two great windows of the Crypt with a small amount of stained glass. Looking from Liverpool RC Cathedral to the great square tower of the Anglican Cathedral at the other end of Hope Street.

previous page <-> next page * North West Index North West of England Liverpool scenes docspics images pictures ï¿½ Phil Brown top tourist attractions in Liverpool, tourist information on Liverpool, student accommodation in Liverpool, luxury hotels, hostels to suit all budgets, B&B, self-catering flats, dining out in Liverpool, pubs, cafes, restaurants, museums, art galleries, guided tours of Liverpool docks, colleges, universities, churches, cathedrals, music concerts, theatres, cinemas, River Mersey, mini-breaks in North-West England Lutyens' Dream - Liverpool Metropolitan Lutyens’ Dream The Second Attempt to Design a Cathedral for Liverpool Sixty-six years were to pass from the completion of the Lady Chapel, covering the notable episcopates of Bishop Bernard O’Reilly and Archbishop Thomas Whiteside, before the idea of a Cathedral was mooted again. It was, however a period of steady expansion and consolidation. In civic terms Liverpool became a city with a Lord Mayor, and ecclesiastically an Archdiocese and Metropolitan See. It was in 1922 that the second Archbishop, Frederick William Keating, held a consultation to find a suitable memorial to his predecessor, Archbishop Whiteside.

The idea of a Cathedral was reborn, and in the six short years before his death £122,000 was subscribed. The promoters favoured a plan of delaying the building until sufficient capital was on hand to go forward without interruption, and so it was left to the next Archbishop to translate hopes into reality. Dr Richard Downey made a tremendous impact on his appointment as Archbishop in 1928 at the age of 47. His native wit, remarkable eloquence and keen mind soon won for him friends in all sections of the community. Catholics rallied to his leadership with unparalleled enthusiasm. Proof of this was seen within a year of his consecration when 400,000 Catholics assembled at Thingwall Park to celebrate the centenary of Catholic emancipation in 1829. It convinced the Archbishop that the time was ripe to build.

Sir Edwin Lutyens, (1869-1944) famous for his palatial country houses, memorials to the fallen of the First World War (including the Whitehall Cenotaph) and the monumental Viceroy’s palace in New Delhi, was commissioned to design a cathedral to contrast with the Gothic gem of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott which was rising at the other end of Hope Street, where building had started in 1904. Three years later the foundation stone was laid, on Whit Monday, 5 June 1933. Pathé News recorded this event. At the suggestion of Pope Pius XI the new Cathedral was to be dedicated to Christ the King. The central feature of his design, he decided, was to be a great dome 168 feet (51 metres) in diameter with an internal height of 300 feet (91 metres). The nave and aisles would consist of a series of barrel vaults running at right angles to each other. The High Altar would be twelve feet (4 metres) above the nave floor and a total of 53 altars would line the nave and transept, apses and sacristies.

The height from the lowest step of the Western front to the top of the lantern would be a colossal 520 feet (158 metres). By comparison, the tower of the Anglican Cathedral rises to 331 feet (101.8 metres). It was to have the largest organ in the world. Inside the West Porch would be the narthex – a great space, wrote Lutyens, which it is proposed shall be open by day and by night, without let or hindrance, and kept warm – a spiritual sanctuary for those cold and destitute. He might have added that it would be a link with the purpose of the site in the past. Building of the Crypt went on apace until 1941 when the war years brought the cessation of building, but the fund happily consolidated. In 36 years it had risen to £934,786 of which a little less than half had been expended. After the war the Crypt was completed and remains part of the present Cathedral, a magnificent fragment of what might have been.

But the grandiose romanesque super-structure, the main entrance arch of which could have contained the nearby University’s clock tower, was now costed at an impossible £27 million! Once again the dream was threatened. At the suggestion of its architect, a huge and elaborate wooden model of Lutyens’ cathedral was constructed as a fund raising initiative. This model, second only to that of St Pauls Cathedral, London, was displayed in the Royal Academy in 1933 (the year of the foundation stone laying on Brownlow Hil). The model, after 13 years of reconstruction and repair, is now on view in the Liverpool Museum at the Pierhead in the People’s Republic gallery. About 4 metres high and over 5 metres long is was made by the firm of J B Thorp in 1929. The model was the subject of a paper written for the Royal Institute of British Architects and can be accessed here. The landmark buildings that never were - BBC News BBC News The landmark buildings that never were 24 July 2012 Read more about sharing.

Close share panel The recently opened Shard is already a familiar landmark on the London skyline, but how might the UK's urban landscapes look if some of the most architecturally ambitious plans of past centuries had been fully realised? Economic and social factors across the ages meant that some of the grandest designs of renowned architects such as Lutyens and Inigo Jones were never completed. Here are five ambitious building projects that never made it off the drawing-board. Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral The famed architect Sir Edwin Lutyens was commissioned in 1929 to build a new Catholic cathedral in Liverpool. The building he planned was monumental. "It would have been 60ft (18m) higher than St Peter's in Rome, it would have been twice the height of St Paul's in London," says Anthony O'Brien, Dean of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, which now stands on the original site. Lutyens' aim was to build a vast brick and granite cathedral topped with a 510ft (155m) dome. The cathedral was to be perched on a high point in the city, its vantage point and sheer size would have dominated the skyline. "Right from the beginning, Liverpool Cathedral seemed incredibly ambitious.

Lutyens was always intensely competitive in his work," says Jane Ridley, biographer and great-granddaughter of the architect. House of God Sir Edwin Lutyens, proposed architect of Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral was Anglican Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral designed in 1903 by Giles Gilbert Scott - a Catholic Foundation stone of Lutyens' plan laid in 1933 but building never finished Lutyens also designed large sections of Delhi Lutyens died New Year's Day 1944 A campaign was launched among the city's Catholic community to raise funds. "In order to finance the building, the parishioners were asked to donate any old gold or jewellery that would contribute to the cost of the building," says Geraldine Judge, a church community worker in Liverpool. Work began in 1933 with the building of the crypt. That's as far as it got. "The crypt is complete. It is a great Lutyens building in its own right. It is staggeringly big. It is like walking into a colossal Edwardian railway terminus," says broadcaster Jonathan Glancey. Why didn't it happen?

The cost was always prohibitive, but work halted with the outbreak of World War II and as the conflict progressed Lutyens lost enthusiasm. The grand project ran out of steam after his death in January 1944. Edinburgh's grand classical avenue South Bridge in central Edinburgh is a traffic-heavy road packed with discount shops - a far cry from plans drawn up in the 1780s for a grand, classical avenue that would have provided a welcoming entrance to one of the great cities of the Age of Enlightenment . South Bridge Plans followed construction of Edinburgh's North Bridge in 1772 Bridge required to cross a ravine Designed by Robert Adam, charged £1200 for his design but only received £900 Adam died in 1792 Architect Robert Kay went on to complete South Bridge Designed by Robert Adam, a giant of 18th Century architecture, the avenue would have included assembly rooms, tea-rooms, colonnades and town-houses. The avenue was never fully realised but parts of the project were built. Adam's Register House shows the architect's vision for an "Enlightenment Edinburgh" says historian Nicholas Phillipson. "There was a sense that Edinburgh would change.

There was a shortage of houses and of public buildings. The city had lost its parliament and aristocratic elite. Where would Edinburgh go?" says Phillipson. Adam's vision was to create one of the most beautiful streets in Europe - on a par with Renaissance palaces of northern Italy. Why didn't it happen? Although he was a renowned architect, Adam had a reputation for over-spending. "Adam charged £1200 for his designs alone, so I dread to think how much it would have cost to produce the finished article," says Frances Sands, curator at the Soane Museum. Find out more Listen to architect Jonathan Glancey's journey through Unbuilt Britain on BBC Radio 4 at 13:45 BST each day this week Catch up with episode one on Liverpool Cathedral on iPlayer via the link (UK only) Adam was asked to build South Bridge but ended up redesigning parts of the city, says Sands. "It was a little unrealistic to think anyone would have the money to pay for this scheme, but that is characteristic of Adam, who did rather get carried away," says Sands. Edinburgh's city fathers knew they could get a cheaper scheme, says Iain Gordon Brown of Edinburgh World Heritage .

"They wanted utility, rather than grandeur. They wanted something functional. They wanted a viaduct with houses and shops which could be let to provide rates. "Adam's scheme was not built but the pattern of it survives, elements of the plan are evident in Edinburgh today in Hunter Square and Blair Street, preserving the ghost of what might have been," says Brown. Inigo Jones's Whitehall palace Imagine a monarch's residence in central London that would dwarf Buckingham Palace. It was almost a reality and perhaps the most ambitious design never built. Whitehall Palace - to replace the earlier complex of the same name - was the dream of Inigo Jones, the first English architect to design in the Classical style. Jones's plan aimed to create a huge palace covering the area now known as Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and large swathes of St James' Park. James I was keen to bankroll Jones's grand scheme. The first part - Banqueting House - was built in 1622 and still stands on Whitehall. Other fragments survive under Downing Street, says Simon Thurley of English Heritage.

"This was the first building in England in which the rules of Classical architecture were properly understood and it was far bigger than the then-standing Tudor Whitehall palace. "James I was incredibly ambitious for London and the monarchy architecturally," says Thurley. "The Banqueting House hall is big enough to be a bus garage, you could get eight double-decker London buses into it and that was less than 5% of what Jones wanted to build." Why didn't it happen? In the early days of his reign, James I's son and successor - Charles I - was keen to continue the project but struggled to raise funds.

Whitehall Palace Palace on the site from 13th Century First parts of Jones's renewal commissioned by King James I Inigo Jones submitted further plans in 1638 Jones's design covered much of what is now Whitehall and St James' Park Much of Tudor-era palace destroyed by fires in 1690s Henry VIII's covered tennis courts survived and now form part of Cabinet Office building "The king was always fighting with parliament about funds, which was what eventually caused the English Civil War of 1642, so [this] was probably a doomed project from the very start," says historian Michael Leitman. "What is astonishing is that Charles I was trying to get this palace built in the lead-up to the Civil War, when everything was collapsing around his ears," says Thurley. "He was captured and locked up in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and still called Inigo Jones to visit him. Together they designed this palace." Charles I was later beheaded under the orders of Oliver Cromwell in January 1649. He died in front of Banqueting House. London's pyramid of death Today, Primrose Hill in north London is a park offering views of the city.

But in 1829, with a squeeze on burial space in the capital, architect Thomas Willson planned a pyramid mausoleum to hold up to five million bodies. Willson, born in 1780 and trained at the Royal Academy, wanted the pyramid to be 94-storeys high and cover a site of 18 acres, (7000 sq m). "It was supposed to be compact, hygienic and ornamental," says Catharine Arnold, an expert on London's dead. "Willson hoped people would come to admire this huge pyramid from far and wide, picnicking on Primrose Hill and enjoying this splendid monument. But it would be rather like a giant car-park of the dead," says Arnold. The pyramid-design caught the public's mood for Egyptiana - the height of fashion at the time. Winding walks, similar to today's Guggenheim Museum in New York, were planned to transport the bodies through the pyramid's catacombs to their final resting places. Why didn't it happen? "It would have been monumental, but grotesque - a literal Valhalla," says author Simon Jenkins. "Public opinion stopped it.

The arguments for leaving the site wild won the day and Primrose Hill became one of London's most popular parks." Pyramid Mausoleum Planned to ease London's lack of burial space Designed by early Victorian architect Thomas Willson to hold 5m bodies The pyramid was to be 94-storeys high Projected completion cost of £2,500 in 1829 Willson claimed the pyramid would make £10m profit when full, but there was suspicion among the authorities that his figures did not add up. There was also concern that the weight of the bricks may have crushed Primrose Hill. And the public mood turned against necropolises - cities of the dead - as garden-style cemeteries became the norm. With the building of Highgate cemetery in 1829, the pyramid scheme was finally shelved. McCaig's tower, Oban, Scotland McCaig's Tower stands on a hillside overlooking Oban in Argyll, Scotland. Planned by local businessman John Stuart McCaig as a Scottish version of the Coliseum in Rome, many now refer to it as McCaig's Folly.

Situated on two acres of ground, 230ft (70m) above sea-level, it was designed by McCaig himself. Work began in 1896 - at a cost of about £6000 - but it was never completed. McCaig's Tower Coliseum-style construction designed and funded by John Stuart McCaig in 1896 Intended as a monument to the McCaig family Proposed cost estimated at £6000 Views from the tower across to Inner Hebrides Tower part never built and build finally shelved in 1915 It's a Gothic unfinished coliseum above a small Scottish highland port. It's very strange," says Johnny Roger of the Glasgow School of Art. "It's a personal vanity project. McCaig was going to fill this coliseum with statues of himself and his family, not heroes of Scotland's past." But the politically radical McCaig was also a great philanthropist, and he also wanted to provide work for local stonemasons and artisans at a time of great unemployment. Why didn't it happen? McCaig died in 1902 and building stopped.

McCaig left about £60,000 - £6m today - in his will, and instructions that the tower be completed by local workmen. His sister did not want to finish the building and successfully appealed the legacy. The judge, some believe, opposed McCaig politically and ruled against the tower on the grounds that the public would have no right of access. "The criticism levelled at McCaig was that he had done nothing for the community. That was transparently not so and the only explanation must have been political - that the judges did not approve of his politics," says Michael Moss, historian at the University of Glasgow. Further court rulings in 1915 halted the project and the coliseum, without its tower, stands incomplete. Liverpool - Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King / Archdiocese of Liverpool / Dioceses / Home / Taking Stock - Taking Stock Liverpool - Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 One of the major British buildings of the twentieth century. The building comprises two parts, each of international significance.

Sir Edwin Lutyens’ monumental and sublime crypt is all that was completed of Archbishop Downey’s grandiose scheme to eclipse Giles Scott’s Anglican Cathedral, and even rival St Peter’s in Rome. Sir Frederick Gibberd’s superstructure, completed in 1967, was built quickly and to a much reduced budget. It is nevertheless the outstanding monument in this country of the ‘aggiornamento’ of the Second Vatican Council, and is a showcase of the work of many of the finest British artists of the post- war period. With the Restoration of the Hierarchy, the city centre church of St Nicholas became the pro-cathedral. In 1853 Bishop Brown started giving thought to the provision of a purpose-built and more befitting cathedral, and he asked E.W. Pugin to prepare plans for a large Gothic church at St Edward’s College, Everton, on a high point at the northern end of the city. It was intended that this building, opened initially as the parish of Our Lady Immaculate by Bishop Goss in 1856, should be expanded to become the cathedral.

However, this project was not to be advanced, and St Nicholas continued in use as the pro-cathedral and Our Lady as a parish church. The idea of a new cathedral was not to be revived until the time of Archbishop Keating in 1921 when it was advanced as a memorial to Archbishop Whiteside. The Lutyens scheme Archbishop Keating identified a site at the top of Brownlow Hill, the site of the former Liverpool Workhouse, as more suitably commanding than that of the pro- cathedral. The site was owned by the West Derby Board of Poor Law Guardians, and was also being coveted by the University (for expansion) and the City Council (for housing). Keating died before the site could be secured, but this was achieved at a cost of £100,000 by his successor Archbishop Downey in 1930, in the teeth of sectarian resistance.

The Rev Harry Longbottom, a prominent local Protestant, said he would prefer the site to be used for a ‘poison germ factory’ than a Catholic Cathedral, prompting Downey to comment that although he had only acquired the site ‘by a short nose’, this was better than ‘being beaten by a long bottom!’ (quoted in Doyle, 294). Downey approached Sir Edwin Lutyens to design the new Cathedral, and a classical style was chosen, possibly to avoid comparison with Giles Scott’s Anglican Cathedral then rising. In scale, Lutyens’ design would trump Scott’s, and indeed that of any other English Cathedral. Architect and Archbishop obtained Pope Pius XI’s approval of the plans, and the Pope suggested the dedication, to Christ the King. Lutyens developed his plans in the early years of the 1930s, and in 1934 his great model was exhibited at the Royal Academy. The design was for a great domed structure which at 510 feet would be notably higher than those of St Peter’s in Rome (450 ft) and St Paul’s in London (366 ft).

The estimated cost of £3m dismayed many in the diocese, but Downey pressed ahead with fundraising (‘We need a cathedral, we need it urgently, and it must be a vast one’, quoted in Doyle, 297). The foundation stone was laid on Whit Monday 1933 and by October 1936 the Archbishop was able to say Mass in the shell of the crypt. Work continued steadily until 1941, when the Ministry of Works put a stop to them, since the builders were needed for urgent war work. The Scott scheme Lutyens died in 1944 and was replaced as architect by Adrian Gilbert Scott, younger brother of the architect of the Anglican cathedral. Scott estimated that it would cost £27m to complete Lutyens’ design, and the dream was looking increasingly distant. Finally, in 1953 Downey’s successor Archbishop Godfrey took the decisive step of abandoning the scheme. Scott prepared a new design, still with a dome, but on a much reduced footprint (with a piazza in front over the western end of the crypt). The estimated cost of this design was £4m.

Although clearly more affordable, the design did not find favour with the architectural establishment; the Royal Fine Arts Commission condemned it as a ‘caricature’ (Doyle, 304). Progress was slow, and in 1957 the new Archbishop, John Heenan, sacked Scott as architect for the new Cathedral, but did instruct him to complete Lutyens’ crypt. The crypt was formally opened by Archbishop Heenan on 26 October 1958, the Feast of Christ the King. The Gibberd design In 1959 Archbishop Heenan announced a competition for the new cathedral, to cost no less than £1m. The assessors were Sir Basil Spence and the Catholic architect David Stokes. Designs prepared by Frederick Gibberd, then known chiefly as the builder of Harlow New Town, were chosen from 299 entries. Building of Gibberd’s striking circular, centrally planned design started in October 1962. The building was placed towards the east end of Lutyens’ crypt, with a piazza in front, an idea first proposed by Scott.

The structure was simple, consisting of two great ring beams supporting the main roof and tower, and in turn supported by sloping concrete buttresses. The interior was a single uninterrupted space, with a ring of outer chapels between the buttresses. The sloping design rose to a central funnel- shaped tower, placed over the central altar and filled with stained glass. Designs from major national as well as local artists were obtained for the glass and other furnishings. The cathedral was opened in May 1967. It normally seats 2,200, and the final cost was £2.5m. Technical problems, renovation and development Technical problems began to develop soon after the completion of the cathedral. Chief amongst these was a failure in the surface of the piazza (causing ingress of rainwater into the crypt), leaks in the aluminium roof of the cathedral, the leaning outwards of the walls surrounding the podium and the delamination of the glass mosaic cladding of the buttresses. The Archdiocese took the architects to court with a claim for £6m. This was settled out of court. Serious thought was given to the demolition of the cathedral.

However 1992 saw the introduction of English Heritage cathedral grants, and these acted as the catalyst for the repair and renovation of the building. To start with the piazza was taken up, a new waterproof membrane inserted, and new paving and drains provided (architect Richard O’Mahony of Derek Cox OMF Architects). Work then proceeded on the superstructure, under the supervision of W.J. Vis of Derek Hicks and Thew Architects. The mild steel pinnacles at the top of the corona were replaced in stainless steel, the lantern glazing restored, the aluminium roof stripped and replaced in stainless steel, the mosaics on the buttresses stabilised and covered with grp panels and the perimeter walls rebuilt. This programme of repairs was concluded in 2003; the total cost was £8m, of which £2m came from English Heritage and £3m from benefactors. In 2002 Gibberd’s plan for a great flight of steps from the main entrance down towards Hope Street was finally realised, with the help of European Union grant aid.

This flight is flanked on one side by the new visitor centre and restaurant and on the other by the Science Park building (architect Mark Dring of Falconer Chester). LIST DESCRIPTION: Crypt: 1933-40. Sir E Lutyens. Brick with granite facing. Facades to north and east and west. East facade is symmetrical, with 3 round headed windows, the central one mullioned and transomed and with large keystone. 2 entrances have Tuscan aedicules with open pediments. West facade similar. North facade has 5 lunettes, round-headed entrances to ends. Interior of blue brick with red brick vaults and granite dressings. 2 central circular spaces are flanked by the concert hall to west and Blessed Sacrament Chapel to east. Both have double aisles and end in 3 apses. To north is the Community Hall and to South is the Pontifical Chapel.

Chapel of Relics to south has 3 round headed recesses faced with marble containing Doric aedicules supporting chest tombs; pierced round stone serves as door (the "Rolling Gate") -The Crypt was the only completed part of Lutyens’ design for the Cathedral, and would have lain across the main axis, at the north (ritual E) end. An impressive fragment of what Lutyens thought would have been his greatest achievement. Cathedral:- competition held for its design 1959-60. Constructed 1962-67. Architect Frederick Gibberd. Concrete frame with ceramic mosaic cladding; walls clad in Portland stone; lead covering to roof. Circular plan with central altar and perimeter chapels. Conical form with sixteen raking concrete supports linked by ring beams at the eaves and at the base of the stained glass and concrete lantern which crowns the building. Within each bay of the frame, except at the front, is set a stone clad chapel; these are varied in form, some with squared corners and some with rounded corners. They are separated from the frame by strips of stained glass.

The front bay is occupied by an entrance porch of triangular section which rises away from the body of the church to form a cliff-like facade which houses four bells and is adorned with a symbolic relief by William Mitchell. To each side of the entrance are fibreglass reliefs, also by Mitchell. The sixteen vertical concrete members of the central lantern are each topped by tall metal pinnacles, linked by a delicate web of metal struts. Internally the walls are plastered. The interior contains carious fittings and fixtures of note, including the following:- The central lantern or 'corona' is filled with stained glass by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens, cemented together with epoxy resin and pre-case within tracery of thin concrete ribs, a technique invented for the job. The Sanctuary:- canopy by Gibberd; Crucifix by Elizabeth Frink; Altar Cross and Candlesticks by P Y Goodden. The nave space:- Piper and Reyntiens stained glass framing the side chapels; curved benches by Frank Knight; geometrical floor pattern by David Atkins. The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament:- stained glass reredos and tabernacle by Ceri Richards. The Baptistry:- grey and black floor and bronze gates by David Atkins.

The Lady Chapel:- Madonna statue by Bob Brumby; stained glass by Margaret Traherne. The Chapel of St Paul of the Cross:- stained glass by Margaret Traherne. The Archbishop's Throne was designed by R D Russell. Sources:- N Pevsner, South Lancashire; F Gibberd, Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool (1968); Architect and Building News 1960, 31 August, pp 265-70+ 228-9; Architectural Review, 1967 June pp 436-448. Crypt. 1933-40. Sir E. Lutyens. Brick with granite facing. Facades to north and east and west. East facade is symmetrical, with 3 round headed windows, the central one mullioned and transomed and with large keystone. 2 entrances have Tuscan aedicules with open pediments. West facade similar. North facade has 5 lunettes, round-headed entrances to ends. Interior of blue brick with red brick vaults and granite dressings.

2 central circular spaces are flanked by the concert hall to west and Blessed Sacrament Chapel to East. Both have double aisles and end in 3 apses. To north is the Community Hall and to South is the Pontifical Chapel. Chapel of Relics to South has 3 round headed recesses faced with marble containing Doric aedicules supporting chest tombs; Pierced round stone serves as door (the "Rolling Gate"). The Crypt was the only completed part of Lutyen's design for the Cathedral, and would have lain across the main axis, at the north (ritual E) end. An impressive fragment of what Lutyens thought would have been his greatest achievement. Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral | OpenBuildings Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Our community will love you forever. Ontotext edited this building last References Wikipedia , licensed under the GFDL Lancashire: Liverpool and the southwest by Richard Pollard; Nikolaus Pevsner; Joseph Sharples Architecture of England, Scotland, and Wales by Nigel R.

Jones A visitor\'s guide to a history of Britain by Martin Davidson View original size Report Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (usually shortened to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool. The Metropolitan Cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city. The other, the Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool, is about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to the south. The Grade II* Metropolitan Cathedral is one of Liverpool's many listed buildings. It is sometimes known locally as "Paddy's Wigwam" or the "Mersey Funnel". The cathedral's architect was Englishman Frederick Gibberd, the winner of a worldwide design competition. Construction began in 1962, and took five years. Earlier designs for a Catholic cathedral in Liverpool had been proposed in 1853, 1933, and 1953, but none were completed. History Pugin's design During the Irish potato famine in 1847 the Catholic population of Liverpool increased dramatically.

About half a million Irish, who were predominantly Catholic, fled to England to escape the famine; many embarked from Liverpool to travel to America while others remained in city. Because of the increase in the Catholic population the co-adjutor Bishop of Liverpool, Alexander Goss (1814–1872), saw the need for a cathedral. The location he chose for this cathedral was the grounds of St. Edward's College on St. Domingo Road, Everton. In 1853 Goss, then bishop, awarded the commission for the building of the new cathedral to Edward Welby Pugin (1833–1875) . By 1856 the Lady Chapel of the new cathedral had been completed. Due to financial resources being diverted to the education of Catholic children, work on the building ceased at this point and the Lady Chapel – now named Our Lady Immaculate – served as parish church to the local Catholic population until its demolition in the 1980s.

Lutyens' design Following purchase of the present 9-acre (36,000 m 2) site at Brownlow Hill in 1930, Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944) was commissioned to provide a design which would be an appropriate response to the Giles Gilbert Scott-designed Neo-gothic Anglican cathedral then being built on the other end of Hope Street. Lutyens' design would have created a massive structure that would have become the second-largest church in the world. It would have had the world's largest dome, with a diameter of 168 feet (51 m) compared to the 137.7 feet (42.0 m) diameter on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Building work based on Lutyens' design began on Whit Monday, 5 June 1933, being paid for mostly by the contributions of working-class Catholics of the burgeoning industrial port. In 1941 the restrictions of World War II wartime and a rising cost from £3 million to £27 million (£991 million as of 2010), forced construction to stop.

In 1956 work recommenced on the crypt, which was finished in 1958. Thereafter, Lutyens' design for the cathedral was considered too expensive and so was abandoned with only the crypt complete. Scott's reduced design After the ambitious design by Lutyens fell through, Adrian Gilbert Scott, brother of Giles Gilbert Scott (architect of the Anglican Cathedral), was commissioned in 1953 to work on a smaller cathedral design with a £4 million budget (£83 million as of 2010). He proposed a scaled-down version of Lutyens' building, retaining the massive dome. Scott's plans were criticised and the building did not go ahead. Gibberd's design Today's cathedral was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd (1908–84). Construction began in October 1962 and less than five years later, on the Feast of Pentecost 14 May 1967, the completed cathedral was consecrated. Soon after its opening, it began to exhibit architectural flaws, including a leaking roof and the mosaic tiles covering the concrete ribs beginning to come away.

This led to the cathedral authorities suing Frederick Gibberd for £1.3 million on five counts, the two most serious being the defects in the aluminium roof and the defective mosaic tiles. Architecture Concept The competition to design the cathedral was held in 1959. The requirement was first, for a congregation of 3,000 (which was later reduced to 2,000) to be able to see the altar, in order that they could be more involved in the celebration of the Mass, and second, for the Lutyens crypt to be incorporated in the structure. Gibberd achieved these requirements by designing a circular building with the altar at its centre, and by transforming the roof of the crypt into an elevated platform, with the cathedral standing at one end of it. Exterior The cathedral is built in concrete with a Portland stone cladding and a lead covering to the roof. Its plan is circular, having a diameter of 195 feet (59 m), with 13 chapels around its perimeter. The shape of the cathedral is conical, and it is surmounted by a tower in the shape of a truncated cone.

The building is supported by 16 boomerang-shaped concrete trusses which are held together by two ring beams, one at the bends of the trusses and the other at their tops. Flying buttresses are attached to the trusses, giving the cathedral its tent-like appearance. Rising from the upper ring beam is a lantern tower, containing windows of stained glass, and at its peak is a crown of pinnacles. The entrance is at the top of a wide flight of steps leading up from Hope Street. Above the entrance is a large wedge-shaped structure. This acts as a bell tower, the four bells being mounted in rectangular orifices towards the top of the tower. Below these is a geometric relief sculpture, designed by William Mitchell, which includes three crosses. To the sides of the entrance doors are more reliefs in fibreglass by Mitchell, which represent the symbols of the Evangelists. The steps which lead up to the cathedral were only completed in 2003, when a building which obstructed the steps path was acquired and demolished by developers. Interior The focus of the interior is the altar which faces the main entrance.

It is made of white marble from Skopje, Macedonia, and is 10 feet (3 m) long. The floor is also of marble in grey and white designed by David Atkins. The benches, concentric with the interior, were designed by Frank Knight. Above is the tower with large areas of stained glass designed by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens in three colours, yellow, blue and red, representing the Trinity. The glass is 1 inch (3 cm) thick, the pieces of glass being bonded with epoxy resin, in concrete frames. Around the perimeter is a series of chapels. Some of the chapels are open, some are closed by almost blank walls, and others consists of a low space under a balcony. Opposite the entrance is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, above which is the organ. Other chapels include the Lady Chapel and the Chapel of St Joseph. To the right of the entrance is the Baptistry. On the altar the candlesticks are by R. Y. Goodden and the bronze crucifix is by Elisabeth Frink. Above the altar is a baldachino designed by Gibberd as a crown-like structure composed of aluminum rods, which incorporates loudspeakers and lights.

Around the interior are metal Stations of the Cross, designed by Sean Rice. Rice also designed the lectern, which includes two entwined eagles. In the Chapel of Reconciliation (formerly the Chapel of St Paul of the Cross), the stained glass was designed by Margaret Traherne. Stephen Foster designed, carved and painted the panelling in the Chapel of St Joseph. The Lady Chapel contains a statue of the Virgin and Child by Robert Brumby and stained glass by Margaret Traherne. In the Blessed Sacrament Chapel is a reredos and stained glass by Ceri Richards and a small statue of the Risen Christ by Arthur Dooley. In the Chapel of Unity (formerly the Chapel of St Thomas of Aquinas) is a bronze stoup by Virginio Ciminaghi, and a mosaic by Hungarian artist Georg (George) Mayer-Marton of the Pentecost which was moved from the Church of the Holy Ghost, Netherton, when it was demolished in 1989. The gates of the Baptistery were designed by David Atkins. Structural problems The cathedral had been built quickly and economically, and this led to problems with the fabric of the building, including leaks.

A programme of repairs was carried out during the 1990s. The building had been faced with mosaic tiles, but these were impossible to repair and they were replaced with glass-reinforced plastic, which gave it a thicker appearance. The aluminum in the lantern was replaced by stainless steel, and the slate paving of the platform was replaced with concrete flags. Cathedral crypt The cathedral crypt under Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral is the only part of the cathedral that was constructed in Lutyens' image before construction stopped due to World War II and in 1962 Frederick Gibberd's design was built upon the Lutyens crypt. Structurally the crypt is built of brick and granite from quarries in Penryn, Cornwall. Each year the crypt plays host to the Liverpool Beer Festival which attracts visitors from all over Britain and Europe – and from as far afield as America and Australia. Refurbishment A £3 million refurbishment of the crypt was completed in 2009 and was re-opened on May 1 officially by the Duke of Gloucester. The major refurbishment of the crypt includes new east and west approaches, archive provision, rewiring and new lighting, catering facilities, a new chancel, new toilets and revamped exhibitions.

Organ Built by J. W. Walker and Sons the cathedral organ was completed only two days before the opening of the cathedral in 1967. Made as an integral part of the new cathedral, the architect, Frederick Gibberd, saw the casework as part of his brief and so designed the striking front to the organ. Using decorative woodwork, Gibberd was inspired by the innovative use of the pipes as had been precedented at Coventry Cathedral and the Royal Festival Hall and so arranged the shiny zinc pipes and brass trumpets en chamade to contrast strikingly with concrete pillars which surround it. Specifications The organ has four manuals, 88 speaking stops and 4565 pipes. The organ works by way of air pressure, controlled by an electric current and operated by the keys of the organ console, this opens and closes valves within the wind chests, allowing the pipes to speak. This type of motion is called electro-pneumatic action.

Organ stops Organ pipes Great Organ 15 1220 Swell organ 16 1159 Positive Organ 14 793 Solo Organ 15 893 Accompanimental Organ 7 0 Pedal organ 21 500 Total 88 4565

Question: Who was the architect for the proposed Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral begun in 1933 of which only the crypt was completed?
Answer: Edwin Lutyens